SHop!

My Story: Urvil James "BJ" Villaruel

"I've travelled the world; started my own companies and charity; earned both my university and graduate certificate degrees; attained high accreditations in both yoga and marital arts; instructed private and group classes; explored both the esoteric and the extravagant; written for prestigious blogs — started my own; played in bands and recorded my own songs; learned to shoot photo, video and design websites all on my own; discovered a lot about the 'civilized' world and even more about 'the one that only those who choose to enter ever get to see'; and do you know what I have realized and continue to realize despite all of that? It’s not what you know, but what you do, that matters most.

Presence in presence is one of the most difficult, but important undertakings that one could ever hope to achieve. How many times have you not only been here, but truly here? It is only the artist, the true seeker, who can see what may only be retold through the artistic mediums of written word, photography and videography.

Telling stories is what I do. What is it that you see and what do you want others to see? For, the most important vehicle of communication is our chosen narrative; transforming what is being said into what is being understood, all at the same time. The reality of what we depict, not by what we desire, but by what is real, authentic, honest and true.

WHAT CAMERA EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE?I primarily shoot with a Canon 70D, 16-35mm L Lens, Gobe Variable ND filter — and when I'm recording video with audio, I thrown on a RODE VideoMic GO.

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE YOU BEEN TO?Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Peru, Cambodia, USA, Italy, Greece, Japan, Costa Rica, Bahamas, just to name a few...

WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE COUNTRY?Hong Kong.

WHAT IS A "MUST SEE"?If you can swing it, first head to Cambodia, then head to Rome. You'll be blown away by the recurring habits we exhibit as a species.

IS IT IMPORTANT TO TRAVEL?Yes and no. Basically, travel exposes you to new ways of thinking and (I believe) anything that expands your mind to see the world in a different light is a good thing. There's study (knowledge), and travel (experience), and when you combine both, you attain 'wisdom'(understanding).

WHY MARTIAL ARTS & YOGA?I'm very interested in "reality". Marketing, in my opinion, is shaping reality; martial arts is applying reality; and yoga is understanding it all as one. My education has basically led me to apply the scientific method overtop the esoteric one.

WHY DO YOU "GAME"?Gaming, unlike most other hobbies out there, allows you to enter into a world, (often times) completely unlike our own and exercise realities which hold no real consequence in the end... Do you like Movies?Books? Music? Gaming, by engaging our imagination, is no different... So long as you keep a healthy balance between each! Check me out live on Twitch*, as well as my recap walkthroughs on YouTube*.

WHY DO YOU WRITE SO MUCH?Aside from just enjoying it, it serves two purposes, (1) it reminds me and helps me to realize what I already know, (2) it lets other people who think the same know that they're not alone...

Faculty of Business and I.T. at UOIT Alumni Profile

UOIT STUDENTS TO SHARE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES AT TORONTO CONFERENCE

"When it comes to preparing for a career in business entrepreneurship, one group of students at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) has learned that hands-on, international experience makes, a world of difference."

So, how do you want to go out? Wheeled-in kicking and screaming, longing for a life you had wished you had lived, or sliding into home base with a bottle of wine in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other?

Business, the bane of all contemporary new age revolutionaries, is perhaps the most misunderstood vehicle of operation for how a society (any collective group of similar individuals under one reign) functions.

My favourite Captures:

If all that didn't seem like enough already, while not studying, looking after first-years, or making entertaining (mostly) daily YouTube videos, Arvil likes to supplement his active leisure time by practicing yoga and undergoing lessons in the Filipino Martial Art of Arnis!